


how light carries on endlessly

by brookethenerd



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Because I needed it, F/M, and i want/need my children happy, have some pain with sprinkled fluff to top it off, so here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 03:10:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10935747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookethenerd/pseuds/brookethenerd
Summary: riley is asked to prom by a boy at school, but things dont turn out as planned (aka riley gets her heart broken, texas lucas makes an appearance, and long-had feelings are finally acted upon)





	how light carries on endlessly

**Author's Note:**

> i most definitely should have waited until i finished s3 to write this, but i didnt, because i had feelings. not sure how canon compliant it is because of that. sorry yall!

Riley Matthews has been waiting for prom her entire life. Now that she’s a junior, she’s finally eligible to go, and she’s ready.

Though Maya was initially completely against the idea, she was inevitably wrangled into going. Farkle and Smackle are turning their duo into a group of 4, and it’s expected that Lucas will join them, too.

Riley isn’t expecting to get asked. The only person she’d even _want_ to ask her is someone she agreed not to go, or be, with.

Riley made a promise to herself to stay away from Lucas, at least romantically. After everything that happened, she believes that staying friends is the best way to keep everyone-and their hearts-safe. Because hearts are fragile things, so easily broken.

But hearts are stubborn, demanding things, and though she’s tried, her heart refuses to let go of Lucas Friar. He wormed his way in and he took root and she can’t bring herself to push him out all the way.

She isn’t going with him. She knows that. But it doesn’t stop the fantasies from playing in her head when its late at night and she’s alone in the darkness. Her and Lucas, matching corsages and boutonnieres, riding into the gym on a white horse (so, the white horse might be a little far-fetched, but it’s her fantasy after all).

So, when Daniel Hathaway turns around to face her in Chemistry, she isn’t expecting the words that come from his mouth.

“Are you going to prom?” He asks. Riley frowns, glancing around as if to see if he’s talking to someone else. But she’s the only one there since the bell hasn’t rung yet and not everyone is in class, so she’s the only person he could be talking to.

“Yes.” She squeaks.

“Yeah, you’re going?”

Riley nods quickly. Daniel’s lips curl up in a smirk, and he leans his forearms onto her desk.

“Would you wanna go with me?”

“To-to prom?”

“Yeah, to prom.”

Riley’s stomach tumbles, and for a moment, she forgets how to speak. She can barely spit out a quick “yes” before the bell rings and the teacher calls their attention to the front.

And for the rest of class, she lets her fantasies turn into ones featuring a boy with dark hair rather than one with blonde.

* * *

 

“Daniel Hathaway did what?” Maya exclaims, leaning forward in her seat that afternoon at Topanga’s. She’s the only one to speak; both Farkle and Smackle’s mouths are wide open, Zay has his brows arched at Lucas, and Lucas’ jaw is clenched.

“He asked me to prom,” Riley says, cheeks flushed.

“Daniel Hathaway. Asked you. To prom.” Maya says, testing the words out. Riley shifts in her seat, uncomfortable.

“Yes. He did. Today in Chemistry.”

“And you said…”

“Yes. Of course, I said yes.” Riley says.

“Of course? Why of course?” Lucas asks, breaking his silence.

“It’s Daniel Hathaway! He’s the most popular guy in school. How could she say no?” Say says.

“He’s a douche, Riley,” Maya says.

“Maya! He isn’t that bad!”

“You say that because you’re a good person and you like to see the good in people. But I see the bad in people. And I see a bunch of bad in him.” Maya says.

“Yeah, I don’t know about him, Riley,” Lucas says.

“Cant you guys just be happy for me? I mean, it’s not like anyone else was gonna ask me!” Riley says. Lucas sits back like he’s been hit, and Riley’s face falls.

“I didn’t mean-“

“It’s fine,” Lucas says.

“Lucas-“

“We should go, Zay. We have that project to work on.” Lucas says, gathering his bag and standing up. Zay’s brows arch and he looks between Lucas and Riley. He gets to his feet and nods, grabbing his things.

“Uh-yeah. The project.”

“Project, huh?” Maya asks, narrowing her eyes. Zay gives her a fake smile and maneuvers out of the area and out of Maya’s line of sight before she can break him down with her stare.

Then he and Lucas are gone, and Smackle and Farkle start talking amongst themselves, and Riley can feel Maya’s eyes on hers.

“It’ll be fun with him, right?” Riley asks. Maya’s lips pull thin, but she quickly puts on a supportive smile.

“Yeah, Riles. It’ll be fun.”

Riley knows Maya is just saying that. And for the first time since she was asked, she wonders if maybe Maya has reason to be suspicious. She wonders if maybe she should, too.

* * *

 

Everything was fine. Sure, Riley would have liked if she and Daniel had planned a bit more. But she has her dress, she’s ordered the boutonniere, and Prom is in less than 48 hours.

It’s the Friday before, and Riley is sitting with her friends at their table in the cafeteria. Maya has her head tipped back, Zay is carefully balancing french fries on her nose, and Smackle and Farkle are trying to mathematically decide how many fries it’s possible for Maya to balance before the tower comes toppling down. Lucas disappeared a few minutes ago, pulled over to the table where his baseball friends are sitting, probably talking over their strategies for the game after school.

Riley finds her attention drawn to Daniel at his table across the cafeteria, wondering if she should go ask him about dinner the night of. They never decided which restaurant to go to. She could just text him, but she’s feeling brave. Brave enough to go up to him, surrounded by all his friends.

Riley stands up, and her friends look at her. Maya’s head snaps back to normal, the fries falling into her lap.

“Where ya going?” She asks.

“Gonna go ask Daniel something.” She says, stepping away from the bench. Maya frowns.

“Can’t you just text him?” She asks.

“Texting is a much more efficient means of communication,” Smackle says.

“She’s right. As per usual.” Farkle agrees. Smackle’s face lights up, and she shrugs.

“I’ll be right back,” Riley says, giving them a smile to dispel the weird mood that always seems to set in when Daniel and prom are brought up.

“Riley, I don’t think you should,” Maya says.

Riley frowns, looking back at her best friend.

“Why not?”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this whole thing,” Maya says. Riley lets out a sigh and shakes her head.

“Come on, Maya. Just because you didn’t get asked to the dance doesn’t mean you can’t be happy for me because I did.”

Maya’s face contorts.

“Riley-“

Riley turns and walks away, making her way towards Daniel’s table. She stops behind him, resisting the urge to tuck her hair behind her ears, rocking back on her heels before tapping him on the shoulder.

Daniel turns to face her, not even getting up, brows pulling together.

“Riley?”

“I just wanted to know if you’d picked a restaurant for before. I’m okay with anything, so don’t worry about picking something I don’t like. Food is food-“

“What are you talking about?” Daniel asks. Riley’s smile falters, and she tilts her head, hands coming to clasp in front of her.

“You know. Before Prom. We’re going to dinner?”

“Prom?”

Riley’s stomach knots and she nods quickly.

“Yeah. Prom. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already. It’s not like we’ve been talking about it for a few weeks, or anything.” Riley teases, things unraveling beneath her fingertips.

Daniel’s brows arch, and he looks around at his friends before his gaze settles back on Riley.

“You-you didn’t actually think we were going together, did you?” He asks.

The smile slips from Riley’s face, and her hands fall to her sides. Her lips part and she can barely spit the words out.

“You asked me. In Chemistry. We’ve-we’ve been talking and-“

“It was just a joke, Riley. We aren’t actually going together.” Daniel says.

“A-a joke?”

Daniel laughs, and one of his friends stands up, patting Riley on the shoulder.

“You can take a joke, can’t you?”

“Why would you ask me if-if you weren’t-“ Riley stammers.

“Alec Lebowski gave me $50. Nobody figured you’d take me seriously.”

“So we’re not-“ Riley is in shock, and she knows that she’s babbling nonsense, but she can’t stop. She can feel the eyes of everyone in the cafeteria on her, and all she wants to do is curl up beneath the table and disappear. She wants to be forgotten, invisible, nonexistent.

“I’d never actually go with you, Riley,” Daniel says.

Riley stumbles backward right into someone's arms. Maya steadies her, but her attention is on the boys, not Riley. She pushes her back into Farkle’s arms, and she watches silently as Maya marches right up to Daniel.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Is it actually funny to screw with people like that? Do you get off on it? Were you thrown at a wall as a child? I mean, when were you planned on telling her? Gonna go Carrie style and dump blood on her head or something?" Maya snarls the words at him, and is pulled back a moment later by Zay, who murmurs something in her ear. She doesn’t relax, but she shakes her head and shuts her mouth.

“Let’s get out of here.” She says, glancing Riley’s way.

Then Farkle and Smackle are helping Riley out of the cafeteria, and Maya is being led by Zay, and it’s all Riley can do not to cry.

* * *

She doesn’t cry. Not then. She can’t. Not when her friends are there, all watching her like she’s some broken baby bird, waiting for her to fall apart.

She’s 17. Nearly an adult. She will not break, not here.

“Riley…” Maya says. She doesn’t instill any wisdom or support; there is none to give right now. All Maya can do is thread her fingers through Riley’s and squeeze, tethering Riley to where they stand in the hallway.

“I think I’m gonna go home. I’m not feeling too well.” Riley says, voice even. Maya frowns and looks at her friends.

“Riley-“ Farkle starts. Riley shakes her head, pulling out of Maya’s grip.

She doesn’t look back as she trudges down the hall and toward the front door. She doesn’t look back when her friends call after her; she especially doesn’t look back when she hears Lucas call her name.

* * *

 

Lucas shows up later that night, coming after Maya has left.

Maya spent a few hours there, holding Riley in the bay window as she cried, rubbing her back and brushing the hair off her forehead.

It seems Lucas has come to see if she’s okay, too. And Riley would be touched by that if it weren’t for the blood all over Lucas’ hands and the fierce look on his face.

He climbs through her window, scanning the room before settling on her where she sits in her bed, bundled up in comfy clothes and fluffy socks. She doesn’t even care that her face is puffy as he flips the lights on and rushes him.

“Your hands are bloody. Why are your hands bloody? Are you hurt? I’ll get the first-aid kit, we don’t want you to get infected-“ Riley stammers, taking Lucas’ hands in hers and looking them over, staring down at his red stained skin.

Lucas shakes his head, flipping his hands to grip her tiny ones.

“I’m not hurt, Riley.”

Riley’s brows furrow and she drops his hands.

“Oh.”

She steps away, turning away from him. She tucks her hair behind her ears, gathering herself before she turns to face him again.

“You didn’t do what I think you did.” She says. Lucas’ face falls, and she knows. She knows what he’s done. And she also knows that he doesn’t regret it.

That much is obvious; it’s written all over his face. He did it and he’d do it again.

The worst part of it all is that she would let him.

Because Riley has never been as ashamed and as humiliated as she was in that moment, when he told her that everything was a joke, that he could never want her, when she fled the cafeteria with tears stinging her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have done that. Not for me.” It’s the Lucas from Texas, the one she heard stories about. A Lucas she couldn’t love.

And yet, that Lucas is standing in front of her. The Lucas she loves is also the Lucas from Texas, the Lucas who beat up a boy who humiliated her. That’s something she has always known but didn’t want to accept until right now.

She loves Lucas, and in loving him, she has to love all of him. The sweet boy who smiles at her and the boy who will resort to violence if it means protecting the people he cares about. They’re all wrapped into one boy, one wonderfully complex boy.

“I couldn’t stop myself, Riley. When you left the cafeteria-the look on your face. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t let that-that asshole stand there and laugh with his friends about how he’d-how he’d broken your heart. I couldn’t stop.” Lucas says. There’s only a little bit of shame in his voice; it’s mostly anger. Anger towards that boy for tearing Riley apart.

Riley feels that same anger towards herself. For believing someone like him could want her.

She should know by now that those things aren’t meant to work out for her. They didn’t work with Lucas, after all.

Tears prick the back of her eyes and she blinks them away, turning her head so Lucas doesn’t see.

But it’s Lucas, and he’s always been paying attention. He reaches out, fingers brushing her jaw. Riley’s gaze lands on his bloody knuckles and his hand drops like it’s been smacked.

“He hurt you. And I never want to see you hurt, ever. I’ll always do everything I can to keep you from hurting. Always.” Lucas says.

Riley lifts her eyes to his, lips pulled thin.

“Even punch people?”

“If it’ll keep you safe, yeah,” Lucas says, exasperated.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.” She says.

It’s true; they both know it. After what happened with Maya, Riley can’t be sure that his feelings for her went away, or that Maya’s feelings for Lucas went away. The last thing she wants to do is hurt either of them.

They all stay friends. It’s a rule they’ve all followed for years.

But Lucas is teetering on the edge of breaking it. And Riley doesn’t want to stop him.

“It’s my fault. All of it.”

“Lucas, it is not-“

“It is!” Lucas exclaims, stepping back and dropping his red hands to his sides.

“If I had just paid more attention, I’d have known he was setting you up.”

“You can’t protect me from everything, Lucas,” Riley says softly, not sure how to say anything else.

“But I want to. I want to, Riley.” Lucas says.

“I've stayed back all this time because you wanted me too. And I didn’t want to hurt you and I didn’t want to hurt Maya. But every time you’ve liked someone else, gone to some stupid dance with someone other than me, it’s-it’s the worst thing I could imagine. I want you to be happy, Riley. But I want you to be happy with me.” Lucas says.

Lucas doesn’t make another move toward her, and Riley realizes this is her moment to be brave.

Because she loves him. She’s loved Lucas Friar for a long time, and she knows it, and she’s so tired of pretending not to. He’s standing here and he’s telling her he loves her too and she wants to just _be_ for a little while. She’s tired of the constant back and forth, the looks that mean more, the touches that last a little too long.

So she steps forward and takes his hands from his sides and guides them to her cheeks. So she tilts her head up to look him in the eye. So she smiles a small smile.

“I want that.” She says.

“You do?”

“I do. I always have. Since the day I fell into your lap on the subway.” She says.

And then she’s kissing him and he’s kissing her back and it isn’t her first or second or even third kiss but it’s one that matters. It’s her second time kissing Lucas and it’s so incredibly different from the first time. There’s fire beneath fingertips and there is no hesitation and there is absolutely no uncertainty, not anymore.

She knows him, has learned her way around him over the years. He’s done the same.

Lucas’ hands stray to her sides, trailing their way down her body before tightening on her hips and backing her up gently until she is pressing against the wall. She stretches on her toes and winds her arms around his neck and kisses him, kisses him, kisses him. She never wants to stop kissing him. She’s never going to stop kissing him.

And it’s so utterly ridiculous and a little bit shocking that when they finally pull apart, they’re smiling at each other and Riley’s lips tingle from where Lucas’ just were and his hand comes up from her side, his thumb grazing her bottom lip.

“Riley?“ Lucas asks shyly, words tumbling from his lips.

“Yes?”

“Will you go Prom with me?”

“Yes,” Riley says.

“It’s last minute, and you deserve better than that, but-“

“Yes, Lucas.”

“Yes?” Lucas asks. Riley smiles and nods.

“Yes, I will go to prom with you, Lucas Friar.”

Lucas’ lips spread in a wide grin.

“Can we do that again? I really liked that.” He says, obviously referencing the kiss.

Riley leans forward, brushing her lips against his, smiling against his mouth.

He takes that as a yes, and they spend the rest of the afternoon learning their way around each other, taking breaks when they both forget to breathe.

And she’s happy. Deliriously, blisteringly happy.


End file.
